


Reunion

by EurydicaeQuercus



Series: Is this what a saviour looks like? [6]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen, Post-Dragon Age: Inquisition, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-31
Updated: 2019-05-31
Packaged: 2020-04-05 03:55:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19040641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EurydicaeQuercus/pseuds/EurydicaeQuercus
Summary: Zaren is still busy trying to heal the rifts across Thedas in an attempt to avoid having to return to the Inquisition. During her travels, she runs into an unexpected saviour.





	Reunion

Zaren walked slowly up the stairs of the ancient temple, careful to keep her footing steady and not to strain herself after having been on the move for so long. She’d noticed she was getting more tired recently. Her hand always seemed to be sparking and aching now. It had been almost a year since Corypheus was defeated, but the Anchor continued to act as a painful reminder that she was not free. Her energy was slowly being sapped away. Her body ached.

As she reached the top of the stairs, she took a moment to stand and breathe. This entire ordeal would be over soon. She could seal the rift and go back to Arnumin. Not much further. She could feel her hand pulsing with an electric buzz at the presence of the rift nearby. Damned things. The only thing the rifts had ever caused her was pain. If she had to look at that sickly shade of green one more time this month she’d vomit. But first, she had to finish this.

She stumbled into the main chamber of the temple, trying not to wince at the jolting pain that went searing through her bones. The rift had noticed her too and was writhing in the air, watching her, waiting for her to come closer. She took a few exhausted steps towards it. It seized up in the sky, howling and wailing as it burst into a myriad of lights, shooting down to the earth below. Zaren drew a blade of pure energy. This was not going to be easy.

She counted down the seconds until the demons appeared.

Five...

Four...

Three...

Two...

_One!_

The lights exploded, and in their place were the hideous, towering forms of three terror demons. Zaren stood her ground, ignoring their screeching cries, instead calmly cutting a sweeping path through their long pointed appendages. Their intimidating screeches turned to ones of agony as she severed their limbs, before turning and snapping her fingers, freezing one to the spot.

She ducked away from sweeping claws as one of the demons tried to grab her, and with a flourish sent a stone flying towards the head of the frozen demon. Its screams pierced her eardrums as it faded back into the rift. One down, two more to go.

She had let herself get distracted though, and one of the demons had gotten right up next to her, bringing its claws down hard on her exposed arm. She bit back a scream and instead let the rage flow up into her magic, releasing a massive blast of fire that felled the creature where it stood. Dammit. She had gotten careless. She couldn’t afford another mistake. She downed a potion, trying to stave off the pain as she prepared for the last demon.

It stood on the other side of the rift, screeching menacingly at her, daring her to come closer. She instinctively tensed up. What was it planning?

Then, without warning, it jumped up, then down into the portal that had opened beneath it. Zaren ducked out of the way just in time as it appeared beneath her feet, exploding upwards with force. She felt her heart racing in her chest. Shit. Without even thinking, she reached out behind her and drew her blade once more, just as the creature lunged towards her, bringing it down on its skull with a sickening _crunch_. As it disappeared into the rift, she immediately reached out to it, hoping to catch it before it could summon another wave.

Her eyes watered as the rift connected with the Anchor. It _burned_. Not just her hand anymore, the entire length of her arm, searing with pain. She gasped for breath, trying to keep her breathing level as the Fade knitted itself together through her hand. And, just as it was closing up completely, the last stitches being woven, an arrow went whizzing past her face.

Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest. She jumped away from the rift the moment it closed fully and pulled out her staff, ready for her attacker. Only, what she saw behind her was a different scene entirely. The body of her prospective murderer was lying splayed on the floor, blood pooling around his body. Above him, standing tall and unafraid was a very familiar woman. She had long white hair, and bright blue vallaslin, and a tired but bemused smirk on her face. She flicked her dagger carelessly, causing some of the blood to splatter on the walls of the temple. Zaren just stood stock-still, not entirely convinced what she was seeing was real. Creators knew her brain had tricked her enough.

“How is it whenever I find you, you seem to be in trouble, Ren?” she asked, and at that moment Zaren became sure she was real. She didn’t bother trying to hide her grin.

In less than a second, she was at Enasalin’s side, pulling her into a fierce hug. It had been so long she could barely remember her other than in distant memories—but this, right here, right now—this was real, and she wasn’t going to waste it. She’d missed her.

“Woah there!” chuckled Enasalin, moving back to catch herself as Zaren nearly pushed her over with the force of her hug. “What’s all this? Little Ren hugging _me_ _?_ Am I dreaming?”

“Shut it,” mumbled Zaren burying her head in Enasalin’s shoulder.

Had it been before the Conclave she would have been furious, but now...now it was different. She’d been so alone. She had Arnumin back, it was true, but Ena was different. Ena was family. And Ena had been gone for a long, long time. Zaren wasn’t sure if it was relief or loneliness or just joy that made her so happy to see her again, but whatever it was, she didn’t want it to end. She wanted to capture this moment and keep it in her memory. Something good to look back on. Not like last time.

“I missed you too,” said Ena, hugging her back and gently running her hands through her hair. “You’re all grown up now. I feel old.”

“Taller than you, too,” said Ren, smiling as she pulled away again.

“And to think I saved you for such insults,” said Ena, sniffing disdainfully.

“Not an insult if it’s true.”

“Fine,” said Ena, now smiling again. “I think you and I have a lot to catch up on, don’t we?”

Zaren suddenly felt the weight and pressure of a hundred lifetimes weighing down on her as she came crashing back to earth. Had she not been with Ena, she might have begun sobbing. But she was. So she didn’t.

“That’s...one way of putting it,” she said, her exhaustion now leaking fully back into her voice.

“Let’s go back to camp,” said Ena, putting a supportive hand around her shoulder. “We can talk once you’ve had some rest.”

“I’d like that,” said Zaren, and she meant it.


End file.
